On a night when surreal events appeared to be the norm, the 2009 NBA draft fit right in.
The fact that Michael Jackson passed away yesterday was beyond surreal. Add in Farrah Faucet and you’ve got a double-whammy.  Then Shaq gets traded to Cleveland to team up with Lebron for what seems to be a destined championship run in 2010.
What else happened on draft night?
Here’s a brief recap for your viewing pleasure:
• Richard Jefferson was traded to San Antonio.
• Blake Griffin was the number one pick in the ’09 draft.
• Tyler Hansbrough went to the Indiana Pacers.
• Golden State stole Stephen …read more

Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio is getting tons of publicity. Many scouts believe he’ll be one of the top two or three picks in the 2009 NBA Draft. However, don’t count fellow point guard prospect Brandon Jennings among the impressed. According to an SI.com article, Jennings had some stern words regarding Rubio.
“Yeah, I think I’m a better player than he is,” said Jennings. “I just shoot the ball better than he can. The only thing I’ve seen him do sometimes is when he has a home-run pass or something like that. I think the dude is just all hype. I …read more

I know we’re still in NBA playoff mode (speaking of which, how good was the Bulls/Celtics series??? I didn’t want it to end!), but I took it upon myself to look ahead, just a bit, to the upcoming 2009 NBA draft.
Short of creating a mock draft, I listed which players I personally think rank in the top ten as far as prospects go. I think they are the cream of the draft crop. Whether or not NBA scouts agree with me is another question.
Lyndsey’s Top Ten 2009 NBA Draft Prospects

The crystal ball led me to another wild predicament.
But the news concerned a different Wildcat squad than the one previously mentioned.
It didn’t have to end up like this.
Prediction #2
2) Arizona will struggle to remain one of the top teams in the Pac 10 and shockingly, will miss the Big Dance. I see this team suffering through another season in which productive bodies off the bench are nonexistent. Last year’s Zona squad made Kentucky look like a deep group.
The top 15 recruiting class doesn’t look as enticing on paper anymore, but will …read more

I said that when former high school star Brandon Jennings decided to skip college and head to Europe (Italy) more would follow.
The Associated Press is reporting that Georgia Tech’s Ra’Sean Dickey will leave the Yellow Jackets to play professional basketball with Budivelnik Kiev, a Super League team in the Ukraine.
Dickey, a 6-foot-10 inch junior center who averaged 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds during his three years at Georgia Tech reshirted last season due to a right knee injury.
He will join former Georgia Tech teammate Anthony Morrow, who played for the Yellow Jackets from 2004-08. Anthony signed with the Ukrainian …read more

The answer – Plenty!
Now that Brandon Jennings is setting a precedent and blowing off both college and the NBA for a year or more to play in Europe, expect more high school players to follow suit. In this great country of ours, nothing is going to stop someone from making a living, and you can’t force someone to go to college if they don’t want to (unless it’s a requirement to get to the NBA).
The NBA has been allowing foreign players with no college experience to come over here for years. It’s about time Europe and other nations started …read more

Flashy point guard Brandon Jennings has decided to skip college (Arizona) and to play overseas in Europe for a year. He made the decision without receiving a final notification on how his 3rd try at the SAT turned out.
The Washington Post recaps Brandon’s decision and how it could affect the decisions of the talented, young U. S. players who have zero desire to play the required one year of college ball (or one year removed from high school) needed to be eligible for the NBA draft.
GoAZcatsblog says, no big deal!
So much for the tandem of Jennings and Budinger in …read more

Is the University of Arizona the new Yale of the West?
Brandon Jennings sure might believe it.
The young basketball whiz from California, PG Brandon Jennings, might just decide to play overseas if he is found to be ineligible to play at Arizona next season due to insufficient SAT scores.
Brandon Jennings, who signed a letter of intent to play at Arizona, is looking at the unprecedented option of playing overseas next season to get ready for the 2009 NBA draft if he’s not eligible to play for the Wildcats next season.
source
Anyone with a pulse can get into the UofA. Why …read more

As we all know, NBA Commissioner David Stern ruled that he no longer wants high school players skipping college and flooding the NBA.
This is a good rule. It doesn’t go far enough in my opinion, but a great rule nonetheless.
But apparently that hasn’t stopped at least one player from looking at other ways to make money playing professional basketball.
Brandon Jennings is looking at the probability of skipping out of his letter of intent at the University of Arizona and playing in Europe.
Jennings’ mother Alice Knox has an attorney and is looking into the possibility of playing professionally in Europe while …read more